• Family reunion time at Congres Mondial
• Houma, Bathurst intertwined in ceremony 

                     It's official: Houma has a Canadian sister.

                     Bathurst, New Brunswick, Mayor Paul Ouellette and Terrebonne
                     Parish President Barry Bonvillain inked the documents creating the
                     relationship Tuesday as an admiring crowd of Cajuns and Acadians
                     looked on.

                     The event at the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum was the high
                     point of the day's events for Congrès Mondial Acadien '99, the
                     two-week celebration of the two related cultures that began Sunday
                     in Houma.

                     The Shady Grove Singers serenaded the signers with renditions of
                     Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" and former Gov. Jimmie Davis' "You
                     Are My Sunshine."

                     Bonvillain paused a moment, looking nearsightedly at the
                     proclamation, when Ouellette came to his rescue by handing him
                     reading glasses and saying, "The spirit of cooperation!"

                     "That's why he's the mayor," Bonvillain said as he perched the
                     glasses on his nose.

                     As the mayor and parish president exchanged trinkets and
                     pleasantries, one could see a professional kinship between the two
                     politicians that emphasized Ouellette's theme of "cousins"
                     becoming "friends for life."

                     One of the real cousins was in the audience, Rod Henry of
                     Bathurst, who traveled with two other Henry couples from Canada to
                     attend the Henry/Lirette/Surette reunion Saturday at East Park
                     Recreational Center.

                     "It's a sin to have so much fun," Henry said. He and his wife,
                     Cecelia, plan to spend time in Terrebonne Parish or another
                     Congrès site in south Louisiana over the next two weeks.

                     Henry said the Houma reunion was attended by some 700 people.
                     "I brought down my genealogy research that they hadn't seen down
                     here before," he said, including information on the original Acadian
                     Henry - Robert Henry of Rouen, France, who arrived on Canadian
                     shores in 1666. 

                     Rod and Cecelia Henry plan to attend Friday's Mardi Gras parade at
                     Montegut. "We're going to be on a float - throwing beads!" Cecelia
                     said. On Aug. 15 the couple will attend her family's reunion (Dugas)
                     in Carencro.

                     Mayor Ouellette and his wife, Judy, are not meeting with relatives,
                     but they are enjoying their stay with Joel and Diana Lapeyrouse of
                     Houma. "It's like a vacation for us to do this," Joel said.

                     "Living in a home - I really like that stuff. It's been tremendous," the
                     mayor said.

                     A school principal who taught math for 33 years, Ouellette retired
                     after being elected to his first three-year term as mayor. He was the
                     No. 2 official for a term before that, and his wife was mayor for three
                     years in the 1980s.

                     He sees the obvious similarities between his city and Houma -
                     Bathurst only counts 16,000 people but serves an area of some
                     40,000 people within 10 minutes of downtown and 125,000 within 30
                     minutes. 

                     "We're very similar in set-up to Houma," Ouellette said. "We're laid
                     out the same way."

                     Located on the Bay of St. Lawrence a little north and east of Maine,
                     set along the warmest water north of Florida, Bathurst has 25 miles
                     of waterfront within its city limits. 

                     The foresting industry still thrives, like Terrebonne's did earlier in the
                     century. Lead and zinc mining are the equivalent of the oil business
                     here, and instead of shrimp and crabs, Bathurst has cod and
                     lobster fishing.

                     And Ouellette sees some lasting good from the activities this
                     month. 

                     "First of all, it has begun some real friendships," Ouellette said.
                     "Cajuns and Acadians form bonds quickly. 

                     "Secondly, Barry and I are going to exchange information about our
                     cities, and if a business opportunity arises - good! I don't think you
                     can lose with this sort of deal," he said.

                     Patrick Thomas is a staff writer at The Courier. He can be reached
                     at 850-1150 or by e-mail at hdcnews@nytimes.com.